Monthly Archives: August, 2016

Somewhere in the process of planning our wedding a bit more than 13 years ago, Carrie and I were introduced to the concept of the B-list. I did not know this was a thing, but I remember a friend saying to us, “Here’s what you do. You have the A-list, the first group, once you figure out who you want to invite and how much things cost. Then, you have a B-list ready to go, of folks who wouldn’t normally make the cut but you feel like you need to invite. And, if you have enough folks from the A-list decline, then you can quickly put another invitation in the mail.” I remember being both appalled and intrigued. Anyone who had planned any sort of gathering is familiar with the troubling reality of the guest list. It was the same for us – Carrie and I were footing a chunk of the bill and were having our wedding on our home turf, in Atlanta where we were finishing seminary, versus at her home, or mine. Somewhere in between me accusing Carrie of inviting everyone who has even been related to her to our rehearsal dinner, and her wondering if the entire town of Black Mountain really needed to come to our wedding, a friend decided to try and help.

Guest lists are tricky. Whether we like it or not, they reveal something about who we want to include and, either blatantly or more subtly, who we don’t want to include. Who do we want to be with, and who do we not want to be with, at least on that one occasion, of course. Who matters more to us, and who matters less.

It is the most natural question in the world, but also the hardest to answer: WHY? We asked it a lot in a run of tragedies this summer, from Orlando to Baton Rouge (first the shootings, now awful flooding this past week), Dallas to Nice. WHY do people walking down the street, or enjoying a night out with friends, get caught up in terror, violence, death? Why is RACE so insidious, does it have such a painful hold on us as a country? As a bunch of doctors in a hospital in Aleppo wrote to the President this past week – why can’t people help the carnage in Syria?1 Why do friends lose their jobs or their marriages fall apart? Why, Alzheimer’s? Why?

Westminster member Natalie Wolf is back from her year of service in Miami with the Presbyterian Mission Agency’s Young Adult Volunteer program! Join her in the Parlor after worship on August 28 for lemonade, cookies, and stories from her time working with the Miami Rescue Mission’s Center for Women and Children.

James in the Suburbs

Mondays, September 26 – December 12
10am-12pm in Room 105
Books available for $20

Most Christians are consumers. We are obsessed with knowing the right theology and following the right set of rules in hopes that God will bless us. Yet, no matter how much God blesses us, we are still looking for more. James says this life of faith is dead. But there is another type of Christian, one who craves being put to work as the servant of God to share God’s blessings with others. Their faith spurs them on to become the hands and feet of Christ. James says this faith is alive.

“James in the Suburbs” is a parable – an energizing story of the lives of six men and women – that wraps itself around the Epistle of James, making its teachings immediately applicable to modern life. We will walk away with not only a thorough understanding of the epistle, but also the unforgettable story of people just like us, whose lives the Holy Spirit turned upside down.